Jamieson Sunday 23rd January 2011
Ian
Payne |
Honda
CBR1000 |
Bill
Simpson |
Suzuki
GSXR1000 |
Peter
Jones |
Honda
CBR1000 |
Cindy
Lee |
Suzuki
GSXR750 |
Mark
Copeland |
Honda
VTR1000 |
Robert
Langer |
BMW
R1150GS |
John
Willis |
Honda
XL1000 |
Jason
Duff |
BMW
S1000RR |
Ben
Warden |
Honda
CBR954 |
Geoff
Dick |
BMW
850 |
Pina
Garasi |
Honda
CBR600 |
Marc
Marais |
Triumph
675 |
Cliff
Peters |
Kawasaki
ZZR1200 |
Pierre
Ong |
Ducati
1098 |
Jason
Wilson |
Kawasaki
ZX9 |
Geoff
Jones |
Yamaha
R1 |
Tim
Walker |
Kawasaki
ZX7R |
|
17 bikes, 17 people |
It’s Monday morning and I’m sitting
here listening to that wonderful sound of rain on a Colorbond roof, while
simultaneously sipping a lovely cup of tea.
It’s been a long time since I’ve done a really big ride like yesterday
which might explain why my neck and shoulders are stiffer than a honeymooner’s
old fella. Thank god I’ve got an RDO today, is all I can say. And not only
because I’m a bit sore, but facing up to work after a great day’s riding leaves
me wishing I was filthy rich and didn’t have to work at all. Oh well. At least I’m filthy.
The ride yesterday saw me riding 725
km (I live in Bannockburn). I left home at 0800 and met Mark Copeland on the
Ring Road at 0850. We exchanged a quick hello. Then it was off to Yarra Glen
for fuel and Ben’s pre-ride brief. As I refuelled I saw Cliff pull into the
servo at Yarra Glen only minutes behind me. I realised that we probably
followed each other all the way up the highway from Geelong. Hmm. Next time I will
organise it a bit better.
As always it’s great to catch up
with MSR people, some of whom I haven’t seen in a quite a while: Peter, Geoff,
Ian, Rob and of course the always smiling Pina. It’s also good to meeting new
folk like Tim, Cindy, Pierre and John man,
that Varadero moves Willis, just to name a few, but indeed, not all. Sorry
if I’ve forgot anyone.
OK, enough of that. What about the
ride, I hear you ask. Well it was long,
it was hot, the roads were all new to me and it was totally awesome. Sometimes the roads were quite challenging,
both physically and mentally. Much concentration was
required if one was to avoid disaster, especially when there were no signs
giving you a heads-up as to the nature of the next corner. A few times I’d go in hard and find myself
facing a downward lefthand hairpin which had loose
muck all over it. It’s these moments that would leave the muscles in my
sphincter contracting almost to the point of no return. Note, I did say almost.
So I’d make a mental note and take the
next corner a little easier, then later think “I could have gone through there
a bit harder”. These are the joys of riding new roads and how a rider learns
new skills and/or hones the ones they already have. It’s similar to riding in
the rain in some ways. Whilst it’s not always fun, in the longer term it’ll
make you a better rider. (The pommies
suggest that riding in the rain makes you cold and wet, and not a better dry
weather rider …Ed.)
The ride also highlighted to me the
importance of the right suspension setting. In the past I’ve always been quite
happy with the factory setting of the Gixxer, and
therefore never really had to deal with suspension issues whilst out of a ride.
But recently I had my bike serviced by this so called “expert” that mucked
around with the settings without me asking him to. All I wanted was a book service.
The only reason I take my bike to a shop is to get the stamp in the book. But
I’ve decided that from now on I’m going to do all my own servicing, unless
something really major is required. Anyway the front end of my bike has been
totally crap since this bloke played with it. At first I thought it was because
my front tyre was worn (see my story in the last magazine) and then I thought I
hadn’t balanced the rim properly when I changed the tyre myself. You know,
maybe a mistake by a beginner! But by chance I was reading this really good
article about suspension setups when the section on front-end preload jumped
out at me. All the things my bike was doing wrong (unstable whilst under power
and at high speed, very light, tank slappers ranging from light to medium. It
actually felt like the front rim was bouncing along the road all the time. )
pointed to not enough preload. Not knowing much about the “Black Art” of
suspension tuning and therefore a little nervous to play with it, Mark showed
me how to make the adjustment while we were at Jamieson. A few turns of a spanner and the bike felt
almost like it did before that mechanic got his hands on it. It was great to
sort it out and has given me some confidence to experiment a little more with
this aspect of my bike. I think there is still room for improvement and I will
get the static sag right next.
If anyone is interested in reading this
article, follow the link:
http://www.gostar-racing.com/information/motorcycle_suspension_set-up.htm
On this ride I got to see some
fantastic parts of the state. I went to towns I’d never been to before i.e. Jamieson
and Eildon and proudly did my bit for global warming. Sorry, am I allowed to
say that?
I didn’t see many cops on the day
but in an act that could only be described as that of a dog, Peter Jones got a
ticket for riding less than 50 metres to the servo without his helmet on. Actually
saying he was riding would even be a stretch. Man I feel for you but everyone
else should take note of what happened and hopefully this won’t ever happen to
anyone else. I sure won’t do that ever again. Like you said Pete, “Timing is
everything!”
The ride finished in Kinglake and I
set sail for home. Cliff lead the way followed by Mark,
Marc and yes, me. One by one we went our own way until the familiar sight of
two little dogs losing the plot with excitement as their daddy arrived home filled
my vision. As I got off my bike and did the mandatory stretch I realised just
how big a day it had been. I packed up
my stuff, got out of my leathers and shared a slice of homemade banana cake
that my daughter had made for me with a cup of tea. I thought to myself, “Does
it get any better that this”? NOT MUCH!
Bill
Simpson